AN OFF-DUTY OFFICER SHOOTS A POLICEMAN, THEN KILLS HERSELF

By ELIZABETH NEUFFER

Published: September 26, 1987

An off-duty police officer shot and critically wounded another off-duty police officer and then shot and killed herself in her Brooklyn apartment last night, the police said.

The killings apparently culminated three weeks of arguments between the two officers, described as friends, the authorities said.

''We believe she shot him, then shot herself,'' said a police spokesman, Officer Peter O'Donnell. '' His gun was in his belt. Hers was in her hand.''

The officers, who were not immediately identified, were both shot in the head. The woman was found holding her companion's head in her lap in her residence, a second-floor apartment at 1253 East 35th Street in the Flatlands section, Officer O'Donnell said.

The policewoman was taken to Coney Island Hospital where she died. The policeman was taken to Kings County Hospital where he was undergoing surgery and reported in critical condition, Officer O'Donnell said. Worked at 79th Precinct

Both officers were assigned to the 79th Precinct station house in Brooklyn. The woman had been on the force for slightly over a year, and the policeman had been an officer for four years, Officer O'Donnell said. They were not partners, he said.

He said he could not confirm whether the two officers were intimate companions. But neighbors, who asked not to be identified, said they had seen the two walking hand in hand and believed the dispute was over their relationship coming to an end.

The policewoman was the second officer shot to death this week in Brooklyn. On Tuesday, Transit Police Officer Robert Venable, 35-years-old, was fatally shot in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Two suspects were arrested in that shooting.

The shooting yesterday occurred shortly after 9 P.M., the police said, who were notified by the apartment landlords, who live on the first floor of the house.

According to the police, the policewoman drew her gun, fired two shots, hitting the other officer first ''in the head area,'' and then shot herself.

''We do not believe there to be a third person involved,'' Officer O'Donnell said.

He said a .38-caliber revolver may have been used in the shooting.

The woman, the police said, had moved into the apartment only three weeks ago. According to the landlords, the two officers had been involved in an ongoing dispute, said Deputy Chief Francis X. Smith.

Neighbors of the policewoman described her as constantly feuding with the other officer.